FIRST KEYSTONE CORP

Forward-Looking Statements

In addition to historical information, this Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements, which are included pursuant to the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to (a) projections or statements regarding future earnings, expenses, net interest income, other income, earnings or loss per share, asset mix and quality, growth prospects, capital structure, and other financial terms, (b) statements of plans and objectives of management or the Board of Directors, and (c) statements of assumptions, such as economic conditions in First Keystone Corporation’s (the “Corporation”) market areas. Such forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believes”, “expects”, “may”, “intends”, “will”, “should”, “anticipates”, or the negative of any of the foregoing or other variations thereon or comparable terminology, or by discussion of strategy.

Forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties such as local economic conditions, competitive factors, and regulatory limitations. Actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results and experience to differ from those projected include, but are not limited to, the following: short-term and long-term effects of inflation and rising costs to the Corporation; ineffectiveness of the business strategy due to changes in current or future market conditions; the risks of changes in interest rates on the level and composition of deposits, loan demand, and the values of loan collateral, securities and interest rate protection agreements, as well as interest rate risks; securities market and monetary volatilities and fluctuations; the effects of economic conditions on current and future customers, particularly with regard to the negative impact of any pandemic, epidemic or health-related crisis, and governmental responses thereto, and specifically the effect of the economy on loan customers’ ability to repay loans; effects of short- and long-term federal budget and tax negotiations and their effects on economic and business conditions; possible impacts of the capital and liquidity requirements of Basel III standards and other regulatory pronouncements, regulations and rules; changes in accounting principles, policies or guidelines as may be adopted by the regulatory agencies as well as the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board and the Financial Accounting Standards Board, and other accounting standards setters; the effects of competition from other commercial banks, thrifts, mortgage banking firms, consumer finance companies, credit unions, securities brokerage firms, insurance companies, money market and other mutual funds and other financial institutions operating in our market area and elsewhere, including institutions operating locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, together with such competitors offering banking products and services by mail, telephone, computer and the internet; governmental monetary and fiscal policies, as well as legislative and regulatory changes; the effects of new laws and regulations (including laws and regulations concerning taxes, banking, securities and insurance) and their application with which the Corporation and its subsidiary must comply; information technology difficulties, including technological changes; challenges in establishing and maintaining operations in new markets; acquisitions and integration of acquired businesses; the failure of assumptions underlying the establishment of reserves for loan losses and estimations of values of collateral and various financial assets and liabilities; acts of war or terrorism; disruption of credit and equity markets; our ability to manage current levels of impaired assets; deposit flows; the loss of certain key officers; our ability to maintain the value and image of our brand and protect our intellectual property rights; continued relationships with major customers; the potential impact to the Corporation from continually evolving payment fraud risk, cybersecurity and other technological risks and attacks, including additional costs, reputational damage, regulatory penalties and financial losses; and the effect of general economic conditions and more specifically in the Corporation’s market area.

We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. They only reflect management’s analysis as of this date. The Corporation does not revise or update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or changed circumstances. Please carefully review the risk factors described in this document and in other documents the Corporation files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and any Current Reports on Form 8-K.